July 23, 2012

Today there was a box sitting at the front door as I arrived home from my half-day gig as an ESY Speech Therapist; I broke into a huge smile because according to Amazon, today is the big day!

What is in that box you might ask? A new toy? books?

Nope!

New exercise DVDs!

Yes, I admit it, I have become an exercise DVD junkie. It started with the two I shared with you last blog post (Weight Watchers "Punch" and "Belly, Butt and Thighs") and has moved on from there. Cardio, Kickboking, Circuit Training, 10 Minute Solutions, you name it, I have probably sweated to it! I think I currently own over 20 videos (and I am always on the hunt for something new).

Forget browsing books at Barnes and Noble; during our last visit I found myself heading past the books to the video/DVD section.. and I emerged with a new to me Tae Bo DVD.. love that Billy Blanks!

I am not sure what it is, but I have a growing affinity for spandex clad people sweating it out in faux studios.. encouraging me to "work harder", "dig deeper" and "don't forget to breath". I recently got this one - circa 2005 (or thereabouts)...

Janis Saffel leads the workout on two of these DVDs, complete with distracting BRIGHT RED full length boot cut, rhinestone clad spandex pants.. made me laugh... so did the workout - the choreography was crazy... I kept tripping over my own feet! I definitely discovered that I prefer more predictable, repetitive patterns! Check out those pants!

The other two DVDs feature Janis with this guy - Guillermo Gomez -

He looks frighteningly like Ben Stiller's character in Dodgeball and is pretty hard to take seriously... lol.. don't you see the resemblence?

I really have found that I prefer working out in the comfort of my own home. No stress, no gym trophies (you know, the women who are toned and tanned and really there to see and be seen) making me feel inferior, no schedules, no babysitter - easy.. I can work out when I want to, where I want to and still push "pause" when one of my monsters demands a meal or snack.

Word to the wise. This is NOT a beginner workout! The workout starts out with a 5 minute workout and then moves onto 5 5- movement circuits which include lunges, dead lifts, planks, push-ups and something Jillian called surrenders -which just about killed me.

No lying, I had to stop several times. I was burning, I was aching... I might have been dying - and tomorrow I will pay with sore muscles.

If your not ready for that, I would highly recommend two of my earlier acquisitions - The Biggest Loser workouts - "Cardio Max" and "Calorie Knockout". Two very manageable workouts which allow you to start out easy and add workout segments and time to the program as you are comfortable. I think the first segment - Warm-up and Circuit #1 is 20 minutes in length.... easy! At the beginning of my weight loss journey I took these workouts on soccer weekend trips and did them in the hotel.

Right now, I am really enjoying kickboxing style workouts. I still love my WW "Punch" workout, although I have really begun to love all the Tae Bo/Billy Blanks videos... they leave me drenched in sweat and feeling like I worked hard. Best part, the Tae Bo choreography doesn't require a lot of space (your not moving all over the place - and I don't know about you, but I don't have my own exercise studio so I have to share my space with the couch, fish tank, coffee table and chair!). These are in heavy rotation right now:

Looking for your own preferred style of workout DVDs - You can search a ton of videos on Collage Video. They even have video clips of most of them; you can search my genre, instructor or any number of other parameters. Best of luck choosing your workout and getting started!

July 14, 2012

The highlights of my last two weeks consisted of purchasing a new pair of running shoes and receiving two new Kickboxing DVDs from Amazon in the mail.... yes, my life is currently lacking in the excitement area; however, it did get me thinking about how much my life has changed over the last 7-8 months... how my priorities and focus have changed...

I would venture to say that this time last year I would have been most excited to find the latest and greatest scrapbooking collection or the perfect buttercream frosting recipe and most of my time spent sitting in my craft room, surfing the web and/or whipping up some fattening concoction in my kitchen... Don't get me wrong, my heart still goes aflutter when I see pretty pattern paper, I still yearn for the perfect buttercream frosting recipe (do you have one?) and I still scrap (even though I haven't shared anything in quite a while).... it is just I am definitely NOT devoting the time and energy I once did to these pursuits....

I am not a doctor, personal trainer or dietician; however, I have had several people ask me how I shed my 60 pounds and how I plan to keep it off.... so I will share.....

I have never really been a "healthy" eater. When I was younger, I was very active and I mostly (except those pudgy years) kept my weight at bay with moderate exercise, while eating and drinking whatever I wanted... fast forward to the baby years, take away the moderate exercise, continue eating poorly, add in an aging metabolism rate and viola... Here I am about a week after having Brody (baby #4)...

Beginning my journey, I knew I would need to make food changes, adjust portion sizes and change my attitude and purpose for eating. After Holly, I had success losing some weight with Weight Watchers, so I decided to return...

I joined Weight Watchers online. If you aren't familiar with the plan; WW determines a number of daily intake "points" based on your height, weight and age. They also give you a certain number of "flexible" points for the week and you can earn additional activity points. WW has a couple of nifty Smart Phone application which allow you to track daily points, input food label information to determine the number of points for foods, track exercise, track weight and even a scanner which scans a food label to give you the points values! WW online also has a number of yummy recipes complete with point values! (you can also input a recipe and it will give you the points). Looks like they are having a deal right now where you can join for $1.00 with a 3 month membership ($57.85).

Here is a screen shot of my plan manager for today:

Sounds like a lot of work, and at times it is, but the WW program has helped me to become more conscience of my food choices. For example, I currently have 26 points a day - I can choose to eat 1 doughnut with icing for 7 points, or I can eat this Bacon and Hashbrown stack for 5 points (although I can do without the ketchup!)... you choose - empty, sugary calories or hearty egg breakfast with 2 points left to boot!

I was very strict on myself at the beginning. I did not use any of my extra points and stuck to low value options as much as possible. Mealtimes conisted of a lot of frozen Weight Watchers meals - this made it easier to moderate portions (they are already figured out for you) while making sure I stayed within my daily point range. I also began eating a LOT of fresh fruits and veggies.. these are low to no point options which can fill that afternoon void. Once I started losing, I got really motivated and decided to add moderate exercise.

I have an old skiing knee injury and so running wasn't an option until I could work up the muscles surrounding it.... a few of the ladies I work with and I decided to start walking after school/work. We started out slowly and gradually increased our time and length of walk... by Spring Break we were walking approximately 5 miles a day. Having a friend to walk with was definitely a motivation on those days that I was dragging... and on the days I had to walk alone, I relied on my trusty iPod with some fast paced music. iTunes has several "workout" versions of popular songs, including this one which is currently on my "workout playlist"...

Getting stronger and needing some variety in my life, I bought a new elliptical and started my collection of fitness DVDs with these two titles:

Weight Watchers "Punch" workout - (it is actually on sale in the WW store right now for $19.95!) - I still really like this workout, although I am starting to outgrow the advanced workout - boo hoo! There are 3 levels... the instructor is very encouraging, has great cueing technique and isn't overly annoying. There are two workout models of average size who demonstrate high and low variations ... and the gloves are a great addition!

and Weight Watchers "Belly, Butt and Thighs" workout. Once again, the DVD features 3 workouts of varying levels which really work on your core. I have seen this one on sale at WM (in the clearance at my local store) and the ball can be used for additional exercises once you have moved on from this workout.

Consuming my 30-28 points a day (depending on my weight at the given time), working out 6 days a week for 60-90 minutes a day and maintaining a positive attitude, I started dropping the pounds. Here I am on Easter (with my kids, Grandma, Nancy and my nephew, Kiernan)- about 30 pounds into my journey:

July 08, 2012

Hello Blog World! Long time no see, post or read! (as a matter of fact when I came to post to my blog today I was informed that the account was on hold becauce of a billing issue - an expired credit card - so it has been a LONG time!)

I had big plans for the New Year to be a faithful blogger, but I got sidetracked by work, kids, soccer games, laundry, cleaning and all the little details of life that tend to take up the hours of the day until before you know it you collapse into night.

If you read my first post for the New Year, the word "reduce" wormed its way into my head and became my "word of the year". I had some definite plans to reduce several things in my life, the first being the number on that dreaded scale of mine.

Honestly, there was no "wake up call", no one, including my husband, Aaron, chided me or told me I was fat, overweight or unhealthy - in fact the opposite, my husband, my kids and my friends all loved me unconditionally, no matter what my size, and revealed in my tireless baking, eating and festivities.... so, why now?

Going back in time, I was not always overweight. In fact, when I met my husband, almost 13 years ago, I was a petite (I am barely 5'4) size 4. I exercised and ate and drank without a care in the world. (I am sure there were times I thought I was "fat" - if I had only known). I wore a bikini on the beach and did not hide from the camera.

Then, I got pregnant with my first daughter, Hannah... gained 70lbs, gnoshing on ice cream and junk, using pregancy as an excuse.... and not a word of warning from a single person! I had Hannah in December, 2000 and before I knew it, I was pregnant again (thanks to the uselessness of the mini pill). I didn't gain much weight, but I was already dealing with the extra from the first pregancy. Life with two babies under the age of 2 was rough and I didn't try very hard to lose the weight, some came off - but I was stuck at size 14. Then came Holly... once again, I didn't gain much, but I was already dealing with the effects of baby #1 and #2. After Holly, we thought we were done, so I set out to loose some weight - joined Weight Watchers and came down to a size 10/12...

Here I am (notice I am hiding behind Holly - most picture from this time period are like this!)

Then came Brody - he was quite a surprise... I was pretty sick throughout my pregnancy with him, but still managed to gain some more weight - After having him and moving to the armpit of America, I settled into a good size 14/16... and stayed there for about 5 years; hiding from cameras, not wearing a bathing suit EVER, eating with wreckless abandon and not exercising. There are very few pictures of me during this time period... I had to dig deep, but here are a few photos of me from that time period...

A trip to the pumpkin patch in October, 2007...

A photo from Aaron's WOC school graduation....February, 2007...

Fast forward 3 years of living, eating and not exercising - to a family trip we took to the beach upon Aaron's return from Afghanistan in 2010 - these are hard for me to look at... but part of the journey.. so here goes -

and finally, a false start "before" photo in 2011 (I think). I say "false start" because I took this photo at the beginning of a failed weight loss attempt... I just wasn't ready..

Still wondering "why"? - well, I will say that at this point, weighing in at a whopping 191 pounds (yes, on a 5'4 frame); I was tired, grumpy and not feeling so hot. I was stressed at work, stressed at home and could feel my blood pressure and blood sugar rising and falling. Stress eating during the day and stress baking at night, I had no stamina, was impatient with the kids and hated looking in the mirror... then, an opportunity arose.

My school decided to hold a "Biggest Loser" contest among the staff. Always a competitor, and feeling quite ready to shed some extra poundage in hopes that I might reduce some of my extra baggage (both literally and figuratively) - I paid my $10.00 entrance fee and joined Weight Watchers online.....

Here I am now. Not at the end of my journey, but at what I consider the beginning of a new, improved, healthier life story. I still have about 3 more pounds to lose until I reach my goal weight and some dreaded target areas to tone up, but in total I have lost 60 pounds!

In June, 2012 - Hannah's 5th grade graduation celebration:

and after this morning's workout - (please ignore the messy bathroom... lol.. I have yet to unpack from our Outer Banks trip!) The next question of course, is "how did you do it?" - I am no doctor, health expert or diet guru, but I will be back to share my journey....